Joy to the World?
by Freidon
Summary: On Christmas eve night, Erik finds that there is a monstrous intruder in his dungeon. Let's just say you won't view a certain Christmas Carol the same ever again.


**Author's Note: This is just a very wrong idea I came up with when I was EXTREMELY fatigued. Disclaimer: I wrote this after midnight. Beware of a twist that is…well….just plain wrong.**

It was pitch black on that fateful night, one that Erik would never forget. As he raced across the room, even the wind stilled in suspense. For every step he took, a single blade of grass was crushed. The cold seized Erik's heart as it had many times before, but this time, the very mist clung to his skin. His icy heart skipped a beat as his feet threw themselves harder, hastier towards the eerie intruder.

The intruder's presence had appeared suddenly, his feet walking across the floor as if an apparition of Erik's past. The monster drew its head to face Erik's, and the mere foulness of the beast froze the very blood in the phantom's veins. This creature…. its frightening appearance lingered in Erik's memory, invading his already hysterical thoughts. But alas, the nightmare hadn't even begun.

"Be gone, you foul reptile! Return from the fire in which we both came." These words stung within Erik's consciousness, reminding him of his own hideousness. Erik's mask could not conceal his own discomfort at the monster's presence.

"I said leave! Both you and I may share the fact that both the phantom and you are freaks of nature, but never will I say we are brothers! For you are a monstrosity that words will never even begin to describe." Erik seethed, hatred brimming in his eyes. The rage burned hotter as his own words reminded him of what others believed him to be. The cruel fiend stared back, its eyes blank.

Why the colossal mass of evil stood there, Erik could not comprehend. The very substance of the foul being ranked of something that Erik was never able to know. The very components of the creature were filled with….love.

Clutching his Punjab lasso with great strength, Erik shook his head, eyes widening as the brute stepped out of the shadow. To the phantom's great horror, the monster Shaking his head in disgust, Erik's mask gleamed in the moonlight as he continued.

"Step back!" The creature didn't move, but instead maintained its dopey smile.

"I must warn you, your death will not be painless." The phantom smiled, instantly filled with pleasure at the thought. Staring the monster's own dopey smile, Erik lashed out in anger.

"I assure you, that smile will quickly fade as soon as you feel the rope tighten around your thick neck." The phantom's eyes widened, seeing that the creature still smiled.

"Do you dare make a mockery of me when your funeral draws so near? Foolish dinosaur, your sinful music shall never be heard among the ears of children again!" Erik laughed hysterically, his grip upon his rope growing stronger, firmer, as he approached the purple monstrosity.

"I love you…." The creature sang, to Erik's horror. His eyes widening, Erik scowled.

"Stop it!" Erik's scream pierced the night as he ran to the shadows where the beast stood.

"You love me…." The beast rang out again, as Erik's feet glided across the floor, his speed quickening.

"We're a happy family…." The dinosaur's vocal chords stuck the glass surrounding them both, and a crack resounded in the already broken mirror. Drawing nearer, Erik's body trembled with rage at the reptile's ignorance.

"With a great big hug…." The monster spread its arms out, revealing its soft green flesh on its stomach. Within seconds, Erik was at the freak's side, his rope flying.

"And a kiss from me to you….." The creature barely managed a cry as the rope tightened around his neck, slowly strangling him.

"Won't you say….you…. you love…..me…." Silence. The mist cleared, as well as Erik's discomfort. The brute's body had, within moments, fallen into a heap onto the floor. He was just another corpse in the world.

"Ha ha! The idiot lizard has been dismissed, deceased! Erik will no longer hear the only voice worse then the toad's….the toad and the lizard are ever so much alike, and yet different, ha!" Within seconds, the phantom found himself at his organ, writing the music that would not be found for many years to come. (Mind you, it was the only optimistic piece he had ever written.) The very essence of the masterpiece would be, ironically, recorded into the minds of children for eternity.

So that is how, on that night when the moon was full, the phantom was found murmuring to himself about how the death of a toad's brother, the lizard, would forever be marked in history. That is how, as guests walked through the opera house, they heard, ever so faintly, the sharp solo of a song so pure, so magnificent, it brought tears to their eyes.

"_Joy to the world! _

_Barney's dead,_

_We Ponjabbed his head!_

_What happened to his body,_

_It slowly decayed rotting, _

_The sight brought everlasting joy,_

_The sight brought everlasting joy,_

_The sight brought everlasting joy!"_

And joy to the world indeed, for on that night, though the song would be modified in time, a song rang through the opera house, marking a beast's death for centuries to come.


End file.
